Marian tops Regina to reclaim CHSL Bishop Division crown
MADISON HEIGHTS » The Birmingham Marian Mustangs avenged their only loss this season and reclaimed the Catholic High School League Bishop Division Championship with a 2-0 win over the Warren Regina Saddlelites Saturday afternoon.
“It means a lot,” senior co-captain Abby Lucchesi said. “I think this is really good momentum going into states for us, especially against Regina. Since we lost to them, we really wanted to get back against them and finish it off strong.”
Angelina Briggs got Marian on the board with 13:30 remaining in the first half when she powered a free kick in from nearly fifty yards out along the right sideline, finding the top left corner for a 1-0 Mustang lead.
“It was weird because we had 11 crosses. We had the possession a little bit. It was a bouncy around ball game,” Marian head coach Reid Friedrichs said. “I told them one of the three keys was restarts, restarts, restarts. And when you can get one, and you hit a hard ball on goal you’ve always got a chance.”
Despite plenty of possession, Briggs’s free kick was Marian’s only shot on goal in the first half as the Regina defense, anchored by Avery Sikorski, was dominant in front of their own net.
“Defensively, I thought we did a very nice job in the back,” Regina head coach Stefano Moraccini said. “She (Sikorski) is our senior captain, and she’s our leader back there. She’s very vocal, and we look for her to be our leader back there.”
The Mustangs started to find their groove offensively in the second half and generated more shots. Marian doubled their lead to 2-0 with 29:14 remaining in the game when Isa Agrusso scored in transition, chipping a shot over the charging goalkeeper.
Regina got a little offense late, spearheaded by the efforts of Mia Iacona; but overall the Mustang defense led by Sabrina Yaldoo and Angelina Briggs was just too tough and the midfield did a very good job of recycling possession, giving the Saddlelites fits when they tried to get the attack going.
With the win, Marian regains the Catholic League title, which they failed to capture last year despite going on to win the Division 2 state championship.
“I feel like this win shows us what we’re capable of and how much energy and ball movement we can bring to the game. It shows we’re capable of winning another state championship if we’re willing to put in all the work,” Briggs said.
The Mustangs improve to 12-1 on the season and also take the season series from Regina. The teams had split two games during divisional play.
Warren Regina concludes the regular season 10-4-1.
“All in all, I thought the girls played good, just not our type of game that we would have wanted to execute today,” Moraccini said. “It’s disappointing. I feel bad for the kids. We played these guys tough twice the first two games. We split the season. I know they wanted it badly. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in the cards for us today.”
Both teams will now prepare for the state playoffs. Marian was ranked second in the final Division 2 poll and has a bye in the first round. The Mustangs await the winner of Madison Heights Lamphere and Ferndale. “Now we’re going to spend next week just getting ready for the playoffs, secure our re-starts and how we want to play, and all that kind of stuff. So just get a really good look at ourselves going in and be the best we can,” Friedrichs said.
Warren Regina will enter the playoffs ranked fifth in Division 3. The Saddlelites open the playoffs on May 31 against Hazel Park.